Lyle Lovett on his new album '12th of June' and how a Phoenix house band changed his life

Lyle Lovett is on the phone from Texas to talk about his upcoming performance at Mesa Arts Center in support of his first album in a decade, "12th of June," whose title is a reference to the day his twins were born in June 2017.

But first, he'd like to talk about a city that's been very near and dear to him for quite some time.

"You know, I wanted to talk to you because Phoenix has been such an important place for me," he says.

"My first studio recordings were done in a little studio that's not there anymore in Scottsdale called Chaton Recordings with Billy Williams, J. David Sloan and their band, the Rogues, who were the house band at Mr. Lucky's back in those days."

The Rogues included several players who would go on to be members of Lyle Lovett and his Large Band: Ray Herndon, Matt McKenzie, Matt Rollings.

"And through them, I met Francine Reed, Steve Marsh, Bob Warren, Dan Tomlinson, people I've played with for years," he says. "So Phoenix is a very special place to me."

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Mr. Lucky's by way of Luxembourg

Lovett met the Mr. Lucky's band in Luxembourg.

No, really.

In 1978, he befriended a country singer there who called himself Buffalo Wayne in honor of Buffalo Bill and John Wayne (his two favorite American cowboys) on a trip to Europe with a group of students from Texas A&M while taking German in a summer program.

Five years later, Buffalo Wayne invited him to play at Schueberfouer, an annual fair in Luxembourg.

"One of the events that year was an American music tent," Lovett recalls.

"The owner of that event had been to Mr. Lucky's, loved J. David Sloan and the Rogues and hired them to come to Luxembourg."

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How the Rogues became Lyle Lovett's band

Lovett was there to play acoustically during the set changes between the Rogues and a Top 40 cover band from Orlando called Body and Soul.

"Well, Buffalo Wayne got dismissed early on in the gig," Lovett says. "And I was concerned because I was doing the whole thing for just round-trip airfare. And at that point, I'd been granted one-way airfare. So my return ticket was in jeopardy."

His act had been going by fairly unnoticed.

"I could tell it was nonessential to the evening," he says with a laugh.

So he explained his plight to Sloan and Williams.

"And they said, 'Why don't you sit in with us? We'll learn your songs and play with you. Then, at the end of this deal, you can say you deserve your airfare home.'"

In addition to saving the day, it opened Lovett's eyes to what his songs could sound like with the proper backing.

"I had never heard my songs brought to life the way J. David Sloan and the Rogues brought them to life," Lovett says. "The way they played the songs, the arrangements, it was just uplifting to me."

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Lyle Lovett recording in Scottsdale

Before they went their separate ways, Williams and Sloan offered Lovett a deal on some studio time.

"They said, 'If you ever want to try recording with us, we'll give you the first day free,'" he says.

"So in June or May of 1984, I called Billy Williams and said, 'Is that offer still good?' And he said, 'Yeah, man, come on out.'"

They ended up recording four songs in that one free day, and that become the first of several demos Lovett took to Nashville on trip to add some harmonies to a record his friend Nanci Griffith was making.

"That summer of 1984, I just kept coming back to Phoenix and working with Billy and the guys," Lovett says.

"Our work day at Chaton was 10 to 4 because we had to quit so the guys could all get ready and go play Mr. Lucky's in the evening," Lovett says.

"And I would usually go down there and sit in the sound booth. Sometimes I'd sit in with them. But it was a wonderful summer going back and forth to Phoenix."

By October 1984, they had recorded 18 songs.

"And that 18-song demo tape is the demo tape that eventually I got my record deal with," Lovett says.

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'They're like family to me'

Lovett has fond memories of the time he spent in Arizona.

"I got introduced to the music community of Phoenix, which is just so deep in terms of ability and taste," Lovett says.

"And it's all because of running into this band in Luxembourg. That's a long way to go to get to Phoenix from Texas. It's a lot shorter if you just go I-10."

The people he met in those formative years have remained an important part of Lovett's life.

"They're like family to me," he says.

Williams went on to produce or co-produce several albums for Lovett, from 1987's "Pontiac" to 2007's "It's Not Big, It's Large."

"Not only did he produce my first demos, he let me stay at his house," Lovett says of those early recordings with Williams.

"Billy lived over close to Mr. Lucky's, and we'd ride to the studio together every day across Glendale Avenue to Scottsdale. It was really a great education for me."

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Francine Reed on Lovett's latest album

He's hoping Reed, who retired from touring during the pandemic, will be at the Mesa concert to join the band onstage.

"12th of June" features three duets with Reed — "Straighten Up and Fly Right," "Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You" and "Peel Me a Grape."

Those first two songs have been part of the live show for several tours.

"A few summers ago, I asked Francine if she'd sing them with me as a way to showcase her more in the live show," Lovett says. "And because we'd played them live, I thought it would be nice for people to be able to have them on a recording as well."

They did "Peel Me a Grape" to add another standard to the mix when they went back on tour.

"This record was supposed to come out two years ago," Lovett says.

"But because of the pandemic isolation, everything stopped. And during that time, Francine decided to just sort of step back and not tour. I was hopeful she would do this tour but I certainly am happy for her to do what she wants to do."

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'I wouldn't record without Ray'

The album also features Herndon on guitar.

"I wouldn't record without Ray," Lovett says.

"You know, Ray could make a living as a session player if he wanted to. He'd have to live in a place like Nashville or Los Angeles or New York. But what's so appealing to me about the community there is that someone as immensely talented as Ray Herndon chooses to live where he's from, to run his family's business and uphold his family's legacy. That's where life is for Ray. And I just admire that greatly."

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Writing songs for his family on '12th of June'

Family is a major theme on the originals he wrote for "12th of June."

"Well, most of these songs were given to me by my children," he says.

On the title track, Lovett, who turned 64 last year, addresses his new family in the context of his own mortality.

"To these beautiful two children and to my sweet and tender wife," he sings. "I will love you three forever though I fly beyond this life."

Although the album was inspired by the twins' birth, it took Lovett a year to get to where he could reflect upon the day's events.

"The day they were actually born, it was all so procedural," Lovett says.

"There was twice the staff in the delivery room with twins being born. And I remember thinking, 'This is not what I was expecting in terms of emotional impact.' It was not a time of reflection. It was a time of, 'Hey, we got stuff to do here.'"

Not every song inspired by the twins is as likely to inspire tears as "12th of June." Take "Pants Is Overrated."

As Lovett recalls, "That was really just an effort at 12 and 18 months to get them dressed and having them resist to the point that I would sometimes just throw up my hands and think, 'Maybe they're right and I've got it wrong, Maybe we just shouldn't be getting dressed.'"

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The life-changing nature of parenthood

The arrival of those twins has had a major impact on how Lovett looks at everything.

"I know I'm not the first person to have a child in the world," he says.

"But when it happens to you, it's all these things you can't anticipate, just in the best way. I'm just grateful that even at this age, I have gotten to experience it. And ultimately, I hope that I can serve them well in their growing up and be around long enough to be a positive influence on them."

His friends teased him, Lovett says, about how having kids would change his life, and he in turn insisted that it wouldn't.

"But of course it does," he says.

"The thing my buddies didn't tell me as they teased me was, 'It doesn't change your life in a single way that you don't want it to.' Every change that happens to you is something you gladly embrace and accept."

Don't say this album is Lyle Lovett 'coming back to music'

It has been 10 years since his previous release, 2012's "Release Me," but Lovett isn't wild about the way that little detail has been handled in the media.

"We just did a CBS Saturday Morning and it was characterized as '...comes back to music,'" he says.

"Except for the pandemic isolation, which was a borderline devastating break, I've played 100-plus dates a year since the beginning of my career. So I certainly haven't taken a break from music."

He did take a break from making records long enough to figure out the business side of his career. "Release Me" was his final album on Lost Highway. This new album is his first on Verve.

"So much had changed between 1986, when my first record came out, and 2012, that I wanted to thoroughly search out my options for releasing my next record and how I wanted to do business," Lovett says.

He went with Verve in part because a young executive named Jamie Krentz earned his trust.

"The people that you meet are so important to either contributing to you feeling confident enough to write something or making you feel like you should shut up," Lovett says.

"I've been so fortunate over the course of my career to work with people like Billy Williams and J. David Sloan and Ray Herndon and Matt Rollings, who brought an enthusiasm to what I was doing and encouraged me to speak up rather than shut up."

Lyle Lovett

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 16. 

Where: Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St. 

Admission: $40-$60.

Details: 480-644-6500, mesaartscenter.com.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Lyle Lovett on 2022 tour and how a Phoenix house band changed his life